The Lion and the Serpent
by GeorgexMe4evr
Summary: A love story between George Weasley and my own character Sadie!
1. Chapter 1 The Train

George stepped onto the train happily, quickly looking around for an empty compartment.

"We didn't come early enough!" Fred groaned beside him "We're never going to find an empty compartment now!"

"I'm sure we'll find one. Don't be such a drama queen." George laughed at his twin. "Ah! Here's one!"

"No," Fred immediately slid shut the door that George had just opened. "A Slytherin's in that one. Let's find a different one."

"There's only one in there!" George stepped into the compartment where the petite girl laid, her black hair concealing her face as she slept. "And she's asleep so that's even better!"

"We can't test our new stuff if she's in here. We're looking for an empty compartment where no one will bother us!"

"She won't mind!" George said after lifting a soft lock of hair from the girls face to check her identity "It's Sadie Henson, she's practically a mute and ignores everything."

"Fine, but if she wakes up when we're testing the Puking Pastilles, I'm out." Fred said

"That'd be funny. I wonder what her reaction would be…" George took a moment to go over that situation in his head. "Ha!"

"You first!" Fred shoved the Puking Pastille at him.

George groaned "I thought we decided you were going to be the guinea pig!"

"Nah, I'm done being the guinea pig. It's your turn mate."

He made a face at his freckle faced other half before biting into the treat. A minute later and he was hurling his guts out into a small pale.

* * *

Sadie really didn't know what to think when she awoke to the sounds of some intense hurling, and seeing two flaming redheads leaning over pales half filled with puke. Honestly it made her want to hurl herself. But thankfully she'd been born with a strong stomach.

"Oh she's awake!" One of them exclaimed after he shoved a bit of candy in his mouth, stopping the hurling completely. "Fred! She's awake! 'Ello!" He waved cheerfully at her.

"H-hi," Sadie said nervously.

"I'm George," The one who wasn't hurling said. "My vomiting twin over there is Fred. Say hello Fred!"

"Ulp, Hell-uuuggh," Was all Fred could choke past his heaving.

"Oh please make him stop that." Sadie said queasily

"That's enough Freddy, cant you see that you're making our little Slytherin friend nauseous?"

Again Sadie saw that strange colored candy go into the other redheads' mouth and he immediately stopped his heaving.

"What are those?" She asked quietly

"Puking Pastilles!" George said proudly "An invention of ours. Genius right?"

"I'm not sure I'd call it genius but okay…" Sadie sat up, not bothering to push away the sheets of hair that surrounded her face.

"So Ms. Gloom, what's your name?" Fred asked

She wasn't sure she liked Fred's nickname for her, but she didn't mention it to him. She knew those two were part of Gryffindor and herself being a Slytherin, it was highly inappropriate for them to be conversing. _Oh if Draco found out, he'd be furious._ She couldn't help thinking.

"Fred no need to call names, Sadie's not a Ms. Gloom I'm sure." George's kind smile at her made her tingle down to her toes. It was definitely a strange feeling.

"Of course I'm not, you don't know me." She spit out towards Fred, giving him what she thought was the appropriate Slytherin glare.

"Gotta work on that one hun," George said sadly "It wasn't scathing enough. I don't think you meant it."

Sadie was saved from having to respond when another person entered their cramped compartment.

"Sadie!" Draco Malfoy hissed "what are you doing in here with these-" He gave the twins a disgusted look "_Weasley's_?"

"Nothing at all," Sadie said sheepishly "I just woke up and they were there."

"Well come to our compartment so you don't have to deal with these muggle lovers." Malfoy grabbed her arm and pulled her from the compartment.

"So long!" George waved to her.

"I don't know what those Weasley's were playing at, moving in like that, like you're their _friend._" Draco spit out that last word like it was a swear word.

Sadie was about to mention that it wasn't so awful when he pulled her into an empty compartment and slammed the door closed, pulling her towards him and pressing his lips to hers in a rough kiss.

Sadie wished Draco would slow down more, give her time to know what's going on, maybe even to protest, but it was impossible to stop Draco's advances, and as he pulled her down to the floor, shedding them of their cloths, she wished just then that she was anything but a Slytherin, and that she could still be in that compartment with George and even Fred, as long as she wasn't being mauled by Draco's eager lips and hands.

* * *

George stopped himself from staring wistfully at the closed compartment door that Sadie had just been dragged out of with a slap.

"Did you just smack yourself?" Fred asked incredulously

"Yep, I think I am going crazy." He replied

"Well it's about time mate," Fred mumbled as he pulled another candy out of the bag. "I've been feeling lonely as the only insane one in this twinationship."

"Oh not the Nosebleed Nougat!" George cried "We still haven't been able to get that one to stop!"

"I know, I know." Fred waved his hand impatiently, shoving the frightful candy at him. "But I think I may know how to stop this one."

"You better," George mumbled and bit into it.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry walked into the compartment just as blood splashed out of George's nose.

"Ugh!" Hermione said in disgust "That's gross!"

"Ged ober id." George groaned

"Ha! You sound funny!" Fred said cheerfully

"I hade you…" George grabbed a large towel and pressed it to his nose, trying to stench the flow.

"Love you too brother. Love you too…"

* * *

Sadie slipped out from under Draco's arm and pulled on her cloths. He continued to sleep even after she accidentally stubbed her toe on the door jam as she walked out. She hopped in place for a second, biting down on her lip, trying not to cry out.

Sadie slid the door shut quietly, and tip toed down the hallway towards a crowded Slytherin compartment. She'd rather just be alone altogether, but as Draco said, 'Slytherin's stick together.' And she would only receive hell for not listening to this unwritten rule.

She didn't particularly like the Slytherin's, although there were a few that were genuinely nice, but they were too afraid of the others to change their nasty attitudes.

"Sadie! Where've you been?" Pansy Parkinson patted the space on the seat beside her. "We been lookin' for ya!"

"Sorry," Sadie mumbled as she sat. "Fell asleep in one of the empty compartments."

"More like Malfoy found her and wanted a good shag," Crabbe muttered to a sniggering Goyle

Sadie shot a dark glare towards the two lumps in front of her. She seriously considered hexing them at that moment, but thought better of it because they really didn't need anything else wrong with them; they were already stupid, fat, ugly oafs, what else can you do?


	2. Chapter 2 The Secret Room

Fred and George slipped out into the corridors, leaving the meal early. They were both eager to find their hidden room again. They'd found it in their 4th year at Hogwarts, and it had taken another year after that to figure out how to get into it again. Ever since they had been using it as their hide out for their experiments and it was also a very good place to run to when you were being chased by Filch or Snape, which often happened to those two.

They found the portrait of the pear quickly and paced a few times before the familiar door finally appeared on the wall. They stepped in eagerly.

The room was simple, just a large area with rows of bookshelves, with the occasional very comfy chair. Fred and George knew that nobody else knew about this particular room, and they wanted it to stay that way, although they were sure that the house elves new about it, they had heard some whisperings in the kitchens about a 'Room of Requirement.'

"So what are we thinking today Freddy?" George asked as they sat in their favorite chairs.

"A good distraction device maybe? Something loud, and really annoying." Fred said closing his eyes as the heat from the fireplace in front of them warmed his chilly toes.

"That sounds cool, so how would we go about it?" George leaned forward and wiggled his fingers, stretching a bit.

"Well…"

* * *

Sadie walked up the stairs with Pansy and her friend Amelia on either side of her.

Pansy was chattering on about Draco and about how great her summer was. It made Sadie want to puke because everyone knew that Draco wasn't faithful to her. Sadie even wondered sometimes if Pansy knew that Draco had slept with almost all of the Slytherin girls and continued to come back to her and Amelia when Pansy wasn't doing what he wanted.

Amelia was quiet like Sadie, but she enjoyed Draco's company more than Sadie did. She just wanted them to leave her alone but how could she say no to Draco? He was probably the most popular Slytherin and he had a lot of friends and if she was on Draco's bad side than the entire Slytherin house was her enemy. So she continued to do Draco's bidding and didn't say a word to anyone about it.

"Are you paying attention to me?" Pansy nudged Sadie

"Uh, yeah, I'm just tired is all." Sadie gave Pansy a weak smile.

"How can you be tired?" Amelia asked incredulously "You've been sitting and sleeping all day!"

"I didn't sleep much last night."

"That's weird…" Pansy said "Something wrong darlin'?"

Sadie barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. She knew that Pansy didn't care.

"Yeah, I'm alright." They arrived at the Slytherin entrance and Sadie realized that she didn't know the password. "Whats-"

"Wiggenweld." Pansy said snootily and walked into the room.

"Oookay." Sadie followed while Amelia crept quietly behind them.

* * *

Sadie silently dashed through the darkened halls, her lit wand outstretched ahead of her so she could see where she was.

Finally she found the portrait of the pear and quickly paced, the image of a quiet room, and rows upon rows of books in her mind. She was relieved when the door popped up and she slipped inside.

It was a very plain room, with several cushioned chairs, and a small fireplace. But Sadie's favorite part of the entire room was the numerous books that it held. It had almost as many books as the Hogwarts Library did, but it was more private this way.

She scanned the books for a moment before choosing one and sinking into a tall chair in front of the fireplace.

* * *

George peeked out of his dorm room, making sure that no one was outside and crept towards the door, slipping past the fat lady as she snoozed against her frame.

It felt odd to be sneaking out at night without Fred by his side. But for once his twin didn't want to accompany him on his midnight stroll.

He always liked walking through the empty corridors, when he didn't have to worry about bumping into any unwanted enemies. And he had many enemies, seeing as he'd played many pranks in his years, it was hard not to.

Eventually he arrived at the kitchen where there was but only one house elf sitting there.

"Hello dobby. Got anything for me?" George asked cheerfully

"Of course! Anything for Harry Potter's friend!" The little house elf said squeakily and with a wave of his finger he produced two leftover chocolate cupcakes from dinner.

"Thanks Dob." George grabbed them and walked out of the kitchen.

He was munching on them happily, trying to figure out where he would explore first, when he heard a familiar mew and the sound of distant footsteps.

George whipped around and saw Mrs. Norris staring up at him with accusatory eyes.

"Get away!" George hissed "Shoo!"

When she didn't go George dashed away from her and began looking for a nook or cranny or anywhere he could hide from Filch.

George had never hit so many dead ends in his life before. He'd had to retrace his steps so many times that he had no idea where he was by the time he found a room to disappear into.

He jerked the door open and dashed into the room, slamming it shut just as Filch appeared around the corner.

* * *

Sadie jolted awake when she heard someone barrel into the room. She hopped out of her chair and whipped out her wand to face her unwanted visitor.

George Weasley crashed into her and they tumbled in a heap to the ground.

"Ow…" George sat up on his haunches and rubbed his elbow. "That hurt…"

"What are you doing?" Sadie asked in panic. "How do you know about this place?"

"Um, I've known about this place for a very long time. Now I'd like to ask you the same question." George helped Sadie to sit up and handed her her wand.

"I have always known about the Room of Requirement. It's a secret that has been passed down from my family for generations." Sadie said indignantly, trying to straighten her robes.

"Oh, well that's cool." George smiled at her. "I just use it as a hiding place most of the time, do you mind?"

Sadie barely contained her own small smile as she stared at the much disheveled Gryffindor. His flaming red hair fell into his freckled face, which was currently flushed from running, and his robes were in complete disarray from their fall to the floor. He was a complete mess but he was absolutely adorable.

Sadie choked over that last thought. Had she just called this _Gryffindor_ 'adorable'??

"Umm, are you alright?" George waved a hand in front of Sadie's face "Your eyes have gotten all glazy and you're mouthing words but I can't hear a sound."

"Oh, I just…" Sadie shook her head, trying to clear it "I was a sleep earlier and you woke me up."

"Oh, well why are you sleeping here and not in your dorm?" George stood up pulling her with him.

"I came here to read." Sadie looked up the 5 or more inches into George's face.

"You're really short." George pointed out.

"I know." She felt herself blush and looked down. "I was in an accident in my fathers potions lab when I was younger and it stunted my growth. The rest of my family is really tall though."

George laughed. "I've never heard that excuse before!"

"It's not an excuse!" Sadie said defensively, looking back up at George. "It's the truth!"

"Alright! I believe you." George threw up his hands in mock defeat. "Don't have to get snippy."

"I'm not getting snippy…" She mumbled

George chuckled and swept a lock of dark hair out of her eyes, bringing them closer together. He leaned over a few inches so that their faces were just inches apart. Sadie stared at George, her eyes wide. George brushed her cheek with his hand and closed the distance between them, pressing his lips lightly against hers, surprising them both.

"Um," Sadie took a few steps back. "I um, I've got to go." She grabbed her book and dashed out the room, leaving a shocked George alone.


	3. Chapter 3 Quidditch

The next few weeks Sadie found it almost impossible to avoid George and his ever present twin.

She was desperate to make sure that they never bumped into each other again. It was impossible to avoid him though, as she felt herself drawn to him whenever they were in the same room together, and she wanted to visit the Room of Requirement every night. She restrained herself of course, but it was _so hard._

But eventually she had to see him, seeing as they were about to have their first Quidditch match and it was Slytherin against Gryffindor. She was on the team as one of the beaters, she'd seen George play before and she was looking forward to going up against him. She played a lot when she wasn't at Hogwarts so she knew she was a good player but she'd never played on a real team before so she was dreading this match.

The match in fact was today, and Sadie was standing on the field, clutching her broom handle tightly and trying not to throw up. George stood across from her and he was smiling cheerfully, gazing up into the sky excitedly, with not a care in the world. _He can't wait to get in the sky, why can't I be like that? He's completely care free, and all I can think about is making a fool of myself and falling off my broom. Oh that would be embarrassing…I haven't fallen off my broom since I was 5…_She thought with dread.

It took her a few seconds to realize that the whistle had blown and people were already kicking off the ground, the bludgers shooting into the sky while the snitch fluttered for a moment before zipping away.

Sadie frantically pushed of the ground, zooming up to join her teammates. Bole, the other beater, flew around cackling madly as he swung viciously at a bludger, sending it whizzing through the air towards a Gryffindor chaser, the chaser swung around and ducked her head just before the bludger made contact. It was a lucky miss.

Just then George flew past her, glancing at her for a second before hitting the bludger that their chaser had just dodged. It smacked Marcus Flint on the shoulder, pushing him to the very edge of his broom. He growled at George and pointed at Sadie, making a waving motion with his hand, indicating that she should take care of the redhead.

With a reluctance she wished she didn't have, she went after a bludger, swinging her bat at it and sending it straight for George, his back turned to her he didn't see it careening towards him. Sadie came close to crying out when it was about to hit, she hadn't meant for it to actually hit him, but she knew it was going to hit its mark until suddenly George's twin flew forward out of no where and angrily hit it back towards her. The bludger hurtled towards her at such an alarming speed that she didn't have time to react and the next second the bludger made contact right smack in the middle of her chest and she lost grip of her broom.

Sadie didn't even realize she was falling until she saw the ground rushing closer and closer, the pain was too bad for her to concentrate on anything else. She was blinded by the pain and before she hit the ground she passed out.

* * *

George turned around as soon as he heard the grunt of pain, and Fred slight gasp.

He about had a heart attack when he saw Sadie slip off her broom and begin to fall towards the grassy lawn below.

He immediately went into action then and followed her descent. He was reaching out frantically, trying to grab something, anything to pull her up. Finally he grabbed her hand, it was limp and cold. George dropped his bat and grabbed her sleeve with his other hand, pulling her up onto his broom whilst trying not to fall of it at the same time. Fred came up beside him and helped him hold Sadie and get down to the ground safely, where Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall ran up to them, followed closely by Madame Pumphry.

Sadie was still unconscious when they got her to the infirmary, the Quidditch game continued as though nothing had happened; it seemed nobody else had noticed besides a scant few people in the crowd. Fred flew back into the sky, waving for George to follow.

He was reluctant to leave Sadie but he had no reason to stay with her so he kicked off the ground, snatching up his bat as he went.

* * *

Sadie woke with a start, sitting up in bed with a scream, frantically pushing back the sheets that were twisted around her body.

"It's alright! Calm down!" A voice called through the darkness.

"Wh-who's there?" She asked

"It's only George." He whispered.

Suddenly there was a light next to her and she could see the redhead sitting in a chair next to her bed.

"How did you get into the Slytherin dorm??" Sadie asked, completely freaked out now.

"This isn't the Slytherin dorm. It's the infirmary, you were taken here today when you fell off you broom at the Quidditch match."

"Oh no!" She groaned "I thought that was a horrible nightmare!"

"Nope!" George said cheerfully "I snatched you out of the air myself."

"What?"

"I caught you before you hit the ground!" George drew himself up proudly, grinning.

"That was nice, seeing as I was aiming that bludger at you…" Sadie said sadly

"Yeah I know…but it's alright, I understand" He leaned forward again, staring into her eyes.

She felt uncomfortable when he did that so she fiddled with her sheets, looking down bashfully.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing…why are you here?"

"I only came to visit, see if you were okay." George leaned back against his chair again, a faint blush appearing on his freckled cheeks.

"Only to visit?" Sadie asked slyly, it was her turn to smile faintly. "In the middle of the night?"

"Well…" George paused, blushing a little more. "Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know! Can't I visit without having a reason?"

"No. I'm a Slytherin." Sadie pointed out.

"So?" George asked.

"So what?"

"Exactly!" George smiled "So how are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit in this chest with a mallet." She replied dully

"Ha, well that did kind of happen…except it was a bludger…" George stretched a bit and yawned.

Sadie watched him do this, watched as his eyes half closed and he opened his mouth wide his pink tongue sticking out a bit. It was actually very amusing to watch and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her face.

"What's so funny?" George opened his eyes and dropped his arms.

"Nothing," She couldn't hide the smile. "Nothing at all."

"Are you smiling?" George leaned forward and pushed her hair back behind her ears before leaning back against the chair again. "That's better, now I can see it. I've never seen you smile like that before."

Sadie blushed and the smile immediately went back to a frown.

"Don't do that!" George said "You look pretty when you smile."

This time Sadie could feel the blush burn her face and she scratched her nose with embarrassment. No one had ever called her pretty before, in fact, it was the sweetest thing anyone had ever told her.

"Uh, um, I'm getting sleepy, I think…I think I'm just going to go to bed now." She blurted out awkwardly. "Good night."

George looked sad for a minute, before he brightened and stood up. "Alright, I'll see you later then, good night!"

Then he left her alone.

Sadie lay back in bed, the lamp was out and there wasn't a sound in the room. It would be easy for her to fall asleep right now.

_So why am I suddenly wide awake?_ She thought.

* * *

George walked down the empty corridors towards the Gryffindor common room. He felt like whistling! He felt like twirling around and dancing and- Oh hell, he felt like kissing Sadie right smack on the lips again.

He made her feel wonderful, just seeing her made him happy. She brought out the best in him.

The way she had grinned at him, her green eyes sparkling in the candlelight made his heart flip, and he wished she would smile like that more often. No scratch that; he wished she would smile at _him _like that more often.

George had been thinking for weeks about Sadie ever since the accident in the Room of Requirement. At first he hadn't been able to comprehend why he had kissed a girl from Slytherin, but after a while of trying to figure out the reason that he should or shouldn't be attracted to her, he gave up and decided that he was just attracted to her, and there's nothing wrong with being attracted to someone is there? What did it matter if she was one of the Slytherin snakes, it didn't mean that she had to be as bad as the whole lot right?

With that last thought he slid beneath his sheets cozily, Fred, in the bed next to him rolled over and let out a big snore, a minute later George was floating in his own dream land.


	4. Chapter 4 Potions Class

George woke up 3 hours before he was supposed to wake up. Fred continued to slumber in the bed beside his, his arms spread wide and his feet hanging over either side of the bed. George shook his head, chuckling slightly at his twins sleeping habits.

As he pulled himself out of bed and got his cloths together George heard Fred give out a soft moan and mumble "Oh you bad girl…"

George shoved the small pull of cloths against his mouth to muffle his laughter. He barely made it out of the dorm before he collapsed into a chair and began laughing outright. Fred was having on of _those_ dreams, and George always knew when he was because Fred couldn't help but talk in his sleep, and it could be very irritating at times but right now it was enormously funny.

Once he had gotten his laughter under control George trudged towards the showers, passing by Hermione as he went.

"Wow, you're awake?" Hermione exclaimed. "You're usually not up until I'd say 20 minutes after breakfast starts."

"Yeah I don't really understand why I'm awake either," George said "It's not like I got much sleep."

"Up late visiting Sadie Henson?" Hermione asked slyly. "You know it would cause a lot of scandal if someone actually caught you with her."

"H-how did you know I was visiting-"

"Oh come now George," She smiled "I was up reading last night when you passed by the common room and you had to goofiest smile on your face and it wasn't that hard to figure out that you were visiting some girl."

"So why would you think I was visiting Sadie?" George asked

"Oh I don't know…" Hermione rolled her eyes "Maybe it was when you leaned against the back of my chair and sighed 'Sadie…'"

"Oh God Hermione!" George hadn't even realized she had been there. "Please, _please_ don't tell anyone!"

"I won't, I promise." She fluffed her very curly hair "Just stop sneaking around late at night and I won't report you to Professor McGonagall."

"Thanks Hermione!" George hugged her "I swear that I won't get caught sneaking around at night." And with those last words he went off to the showers, leaving Hermione glaring at his back.

* * *

Sadie was woken up early by Madame Pomfrey.

"Wake up darling', gotta give you your medicine before we set you off for classes." She shoved a glass of purple liquid into her hand and watched closely as Sadie gulped down the foul smelling liquid.

"Alrighty then, go on, can't miss breakfast!" Madame Pomfrey ripped the sheets off of Sadie and shooed her away until Sadie found herself standing outside the Hospital Wing in a short baggy gown, her hair was ruffled and greasy and she really needed a shower.

Thankfully Madame Pomfrey had sent her out before most everyone was awake so she could dash to the Slytherin entrance where she muttered the password and entered the common room.

After grabbing her robes she ran to the showers and scrubbed her hair.

When Sadie finally got out of the shower she was perfectly clean and other Slytherin's were just starting to wake up.

"Hello…Sadie." Malfoy said seductively (at least he thought it was seductive) as she stepped back into the common room. "Where have you been?"

"In the hospital," Sadie said with irritation "Recovering from when a bludger knocked me off my broom."

"I know," Malfoy pulled him self out of the chair that he had been sitting in. "I was just making small talk."

"Why?" Sadie asked suspiciously

"What, I can't make small talk with one of my…favorite Slytherin's'?" Malfoy touched her cheek with on of his long fingers. "I haven't seen you in…so long."

"It's been 3 days." She replied blandly, brushing away his hand. She wasn't sure why she was acting this way towards Malfoy, she had always treated him as though he was something to be feared. But right now she only saw him as an irritation.

"Don't be like that…" Malfoy rested his hands on her shoulders, drawing her toward him slightly.

"I'm not being like anything." Sadie tried to shake him off but before she knew it he had her against the wall with his body pressed against hers.

"Yes you are…and I like it." He kissed her hard, gripping her wet hair in his one hand, angling her head so that his tongue could enter her mouth while his other hand reached down and gripped her bottom, while he ground his hips against hers.

"Stop," Sadie said into his mouth. "I don't want to start this right now."

"Why not," He gasped as he moved his eager lips down to her neck. "I want to."

"Well I don't!" She said more forcefully and shoved Malfoy away. "I have to go." And she grabbed her book bag and left the Slytherin common room.

­­­­­­­­­

* * *

George walked into the Great Hall with Fred by his side. They were chatting about their new idea for their collection of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. This was one of George's favorite things to do. Just hang out with his twin and talk about pranks and joke with each other.

Fred was his best friend, the only person that understood him. He knew exactly when George was depressed, and he knew when George was angry, 2 emotions that he almost never let people see. George only let people see his happy side, he never let them see his weaker more vulnerable side. He didn't trust anyone else with his emotions but Fred.

"Hey Fred, hey George." Harry said as they sat down across from him.

"What's up Harry?" George asked happily as he tossed a few hot cakes and some sausages on his plate. "When's the next Quidditch practice?"

"Erm," Harry took a sip of pumpkin juice "Tomorrow morning."

"Aww no!" Ron groaned "Mornings are really bad for me Harry, lets do it later in the day!"

"We have to Ron, Slytherin has it at noon, Ravenclaw in the afternoon, and Hufflepuff's got it in the evening."

"Whys everyone doing practice tomorrow?" Fred asked curiously

"Well Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff have a match the day after tomorrow," Harry said, looking over as Cho Chang passed by their table "…and Slytherin's just stubborn."

"Then why don't we practice some other day?" George asked

"Because tomorrows one of our only free days this week and we need all the practice we can get." Harry looked over at Ron ruefully.

"Wha?" Ron mumbled through a mouthful of biscuit and ham.

"You suck Ron." Ginny said bluntly

"Hey! I'm not that bad!" Ron said defensively

Everyone stared at Ron.

"Okay, so I'm not amazing…" Ron finally said "So what?"

"Ron you're probably the worst keeper I've seen in quite a while." Nearly Headless Nick sighed as he glided by.

"Like you're one to talk…" Ron grumbled "You can't even catch a ball. It'd go right through you…" But the old ghost didn't hear him as he'd already flown away.

* * *

Instead of heading for the Great Hall, Sadie skipped breakfast altogether and decided to get to class early.

She entered Potions class just as Professor Snape was arriving. He took one look at her and sighed.

"You shouldn't let Draco use you so much Ms. Henson," He sighed.

Sadie looked down in shame. "How do you know that it's Malfoy?"

"It's the same thing that happened last year-yes I know what happened last year. Draco tells me things." Snape waved his wand and a stack of papers flew out of the cabinet to place themselves separately on the multiple desks around the room. "He thinks every girl is in love with him. And in a sense he is true, about the Slytherin girls atleast."

"Not me!" Sadie exclaimed

"Of course not you!" Snape waved his wand again and a broom moved itself around the room to clean up some shards of glass from a teacup that had fallen earlier. "You have more sense than to fall in love with a spoiled brat."

These words startled Sadie so much that she stopped in the middle of pulling her books out of her bag. "Professor!"

"My attitude toward Draco Malfoy when he is present is not how I would like to treat him. He's a spoiled brat and he deserves to be hexed." Snape shuffled around, making sure he had certain ingredients for potions. "But I have my reasons for treating him like I do."

"Okay…" Sadie wasn't sure what he meant but it was obvious that Professor Snape didn't like Malfoy like he made everyone think he did.

"Anyway," Professor Snape continued "Don't let him push you around like he does everyone else. Draco Malfoy isn't one to be trifled with, but that doesn't mean you can just let him push you around like he does."

"How would you know all this?" Sadie asked

"Just because I'm not in the Slytherin common room 24/7 doesn't mean that I don't know what's going in there." He winked at her knowingly.

"You mean you can-" Sadie started

"Lets not talk any further about this, I am supposed to keep it a secret." Snape touched her arm comfortingly "Just, hang on there Sadie, a few more years and you will be out of Hogwarts and away from Draco."

"Why do you care so much Professor?" Sadie could feel tears welling up in her eyes and she tried to blink them away.

"Just because people say that I am a mean old bat doesn't mean that the rumors are true." Again he winked at her, but this time there was a big grin on her face that made Sadie smile slightly.

"I never knew you had a sense of humor Professor." She said

Snape sighed. "I guess I show it in odd ways. I try to be funny with Mr. Potter all the time but I think he thinks that I am only being mean...hm...sad."

Sadie giggled. "Yeah you definitely have an odd sense of humor…"

The someone walked into the classroom that moment and their conversation was cut short.


End file.
